At one point, data exfiltration was an IT professional’s biggest threat. Now, bad actors are trying to attack and take control of the infrastructure, so they can steal data and ransom it. 

Cloud encryption of data is necessary to make sure that the information is indecipherable and useless without the encryption keys to restore the data into a readable format. However, encryption of data alone, in motion or at rest, is not sufficient to secure your network communications. This means CTOs and technology decision-makers need to go beyond protecting data, and protect the segments in order to secure the enterprise from breach.

A thorough network data encryption strategy includes more than just encrypting data as it travels over a network. Organizations must also take into account the hazards to information both at its source (before it is sent) and at its destination. In order to achieve this higher level of network security, one needs secured point-to-point communications aggregated into networks with their own root of trust. 

By cryptographically securing workloads and the network pathways of those workloads from Operational Technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) systems and devices, you can provide security from the edge/device to your on-premise network and the cloud. This eliminates the exponentially-growing attack surface that is the biggest security threat facing IT networks today.

Enhance Cloud Security by Eliminating the OT/IoT Attack Surface with the Onclave TrustedPlatform™

Securing your cloud network also requires safeguarding the spaces between the network edge (devices) and the cloud. In a typical, co-mingled enterprise network, you see the convergence of data from OT and IoT devices on the IT network. In this environment, most organizations try to secure their network with VPNs and firewalls to cover their remote and mobile users. 

Co-Mingled Enterprise Network with OT/IoT and IT

However, just securing remote workers in your network environment does nothing to secure the OT/IoT devices that can be compromised from other vectors. If the only protection you have is a firewall on the premise level, you will not have adequate security. What’s more, the cost and complexity of implementing firewalls for OT/IoT devices will be high, because you will be required to change your firewall rules each time you add a new device or make a device change. This could result in thousands or tens of thousands of rules changes. 

Hence, many organizations turn to a patchwork of VLANs and certificate management as their sole means of protection on the co-mingled LAN. This approach is not an effective security solution – as it remains too permeable to determined adversaries.

To ensure you provide better network security and reduce what you have to manage, your network needs to identify and cryptographically secure the pathways from OT/IoT devices to your IT infrastructure.

The Onclave TrustedPlatform™ is a network overlay that is purpose built to provide cryptographically secure microsegmentation of workloads from Operational Technology (OT), Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) that use an IT network.

The overlay effectively wraps security around the workload to provide total protection from edge to the cloud, regardless of which cloud environment it travels through or how many.

Cryptographically Secured Workloads

By cryptographically securing the segments, both management and network traffic are isolated inside a common encryption tunnel, making existing firewalls no longer the long pole for field upgrades and patching. This streamlines updates to be managed centrally instead of relying on sending people out into the field. 

What’s more, using cryptography to secure the workload makes it invisible to hackers. Without visibility, the OT/IoT attack surface is eliminated and the workload cannot be attacked. This is the most effective way to prevent attackers from being able to gain access to networks and move laterally across them. 

Lastly, while most traditional cybersecurity solutions monitor for attacks and alert administrators to intrusions so they can mitigate the damage, the Onclave TrustedPlatform™ is a fully integrated security platform that provides detection, isolation, and encrypted containment capabilities through continuous monitoring of all endpoint activities — and requires no changes to an organization’s existing infrastructure. This results in better overall security from breach, as well as lower costs in management. 

Visit Onclave Networks at www.onclavenetworks.com to learn more or click here to receive a security risk assessment of the modern threats to your hybrid cloud environment.